Ayodhya Gears Up To Celebrate Bhoomi Pujan of Ram Temple

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, preparations at Ayodhya for Bhoomi Pujan of Ram Temple are going on in full swing. The pilgrims are seen moving to Ayodhya without having any fear of COVID-19 and the city has lit up with colourful lights and decorations amid the Bhoomi Pujan to be held on August 5.

Pilgrims reached Ayodhya from Lucknow on foot. Pilgrims from Assam have also carried sacred water and soil from Kamakhya to be used in the puja for Ram Temple construction.

The bhoomi pujan will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, UP Governor Anandiben Patel and CM Yogi Adityanath, apart from saints and sages from across the country as well as Nepal.

Champat Rai, general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, has said that unprecedented security arrangements have been made in Ayodhya for the Ram Mandir bhoomi pujan programme.'

Tight security arrangements have been made for the grand ceremony on Wednesday. According to reports, PM Narendra Modi will move to Lucknow from Delhi at 9:35 AM and from Lucknow, he will head towards Ayodhya at 10:30 AM.

The Prime Minister will hold puja first at Saket College and then at Hanuman gori.

He will reach Ram Bhoomi at 12:30 and will start the bhoomi pujan.

The much-awaited bhoomi pujan will be attended by 175 guests, which will include PM Modi, RSS chief Bhagwat, UP Governor and CM, Sri Ram Janambhoomi Teerath Kshetra Trust chairman Nritya Gopal Das and saints from across India and Nepal. "One hundred seventy-five eminent guests have been invited for the Bhumi Pujan of Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Mandir. One hundred thirty-five Pujya Sants belonging to 135 spiritual traditions will be present in the programme. Some eminent citizens of Ayodhya have also been invited," the Teerth Kshetra Trust's official Twitter handle said.

Senior BJP leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi will join the programme via video conferencing. 

 "There are certain practical difficulties in the arrival of some guests due to Corona pandemic. The arrival of people who are aged above 90 years is not appropriate under present circumstances. Pujya Shankaracharya ji & many Pujya Sant have expressed inability to attend due to Chaturmas," the trust tweeted.

The security arrangements for the event are very strict. Explaining the security arrangements, Champat Rai said that the invitation letter carries a security code, which can be swiped only once. The invitation card also has a serial number, which cops will cross-check at the entry. Thus, the card is non-transferable and can be used only once.

No electronic device, mobile or camera will be permitted at the venue. The guests will not be issued any vehicle passes. The parking arrangements have been made in front of Amava Temple. The guests will have to walk about 250 steps to reach the venue.

All guests will be expected to be seated by 10.30 am. The programme will be held between 8 am and 2 pm. PM Narendra Modi will first do Darshan-Pujan at Hanumangarhi Mandir, after which he will do puja of Bhagwan Shri Ramlalla at Ram Janmabhoomi. It will be then followed by the bhoomi pujan and the stage event. The muhurt for the groundbreaking ceremony is at 12.15 pm. Apart from the bhoomi pujan, the PM will also unveil a Rs 5 postal stamp with the new model of Ram temple to commemorate the event.

"Sacred soil from more than 2000 teerth sthan and water from more than 100 rivers has been brought to Ayodhya for bhoomi pujan. Sants have sent many auspicious materials for bhoomi pujan. We call upon all Rambhakts across the world to organise bhajan, kirtan and prasad distribution in all villages and cities while taking all necessary precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus," the trust said in another tweet.